As It Should Be
by mayazero
Summary: Berwald had no idea that getting lost under the famous Parisian catacombs would lead to meeting the love of his life – never mind that the love of his life is the Demon King himself, cursed to be prisoned in isolation for a thousand years for a crime he had apparently committed. SuDen with side USUK and some other pairings that I'm still not yet sure I'll be putting in.
1. Introduction

**A/N: Writing this up because I'm currently in a slump with "To Womanhood" due to the set back with Julchen's chapter and I currently have no ideas for any new chapters for "Family Shenanigans" – not to mention, I'm currently craving big time for SuDen and whY ISN'T THERE MORE SUDEN IN THIS WORLD!?**

 **So without further ado, enjoy this (debatably glorious) mess my currently fucked up emotions conjured up.**

 **Almost forgot, this entire story has crude language. But not much, don't worry. After all, I don't think Romano would be making an appearance in this. I think?**

 **I don't own Hetalia!**

* * *

 _Introduction_

* * *

 _Beware mortal, for in your hand is the 95632748593th journal of the awesome demon awesomely named Gilbert._

 _For this volume, I have opted out of writing another bloody cruel tale (it can get repetitive honestly, especially since I've been doing this for thousands of years already.) You could well say this is a special volume for instead, I would share to you the rather peculiar story of how my favorite drinking buddy – who had been imprisoned for a thousand years, mind you. The last time we shared a toast was too long ago – Matthias Kohler found his other half who was, well, a human, naturally._

 _Have I caught your interest? No? Well, yoU BETTER SHUT YOUR YAPPING AND SIT YOUR ASSES DOWN FOR MY AWESOME STORY TELLING. IT WAS A DARE OKAY?_

 _Pardon my Hungarian._

 _(On that note, do remind me to never drink with Francis and Antonio again. Lest we, my dear avid readers, shall suffer something the likes of this again.)_

 _I know you were expecting something greater than this – we're demons! Romance is_ _ **beneath**_ _us – but well, what can we do? It was Francis (for those new readers of mine, he's the Angel of Love by the way) who asked for this._ (Exclusively for Francis only: Fuck you man. Hope you go bald. And get your damned Pierre away from my awesome Gilbird!)

 _Worry not though! I promise to make it up to you by telling you the awesome story of how I awesomely cheated on Captain Arthur Kirkland and ultimately won against him for the very first time. You wouldn't want to miss it, trust me._

 _Now before I start the story here are a few reminders:_

 _*Everything that has been transcribed into this book shall remain between us and my other readers. Lowly humans who aren't part of my cult following shall have no privy to my awesome tales._

 _*I NEVER tolerate plagiarism. We all know that. If ever I find out this_ _ **VERY VERY HOLY RULE**_ _has been broken._ _ **WATCH OUT**_ _._

 _*My email is very selective. Complaints, negative reviews, lawsuits filed against me, and hate mails would be sent back to the sender._

 _*If ever your particular copy squeals loudly whenever you open it, please do ignore. That must be one of the special copies that the Angel of Love personally blessed. It's guaranteed (by him) to make you fall in love._

 _*On that note, same applies for the copies that would whisper "fusosososos~". Those were the ones the Demon Turtle Pirate blessed and is guaranteed (by him) to make you feel better from anything negative you might be feeling._

 _*I don't accept returns for refunds or replacement. I don't accept returns at all._

 _*If ever you do come across my younger brother, do me a favor and keep this particular volume from him. That angel might get ideas and none of us would want that now, won't we?_

 _*If at the event that Lieutenant_ _Elizabeta Héderváry_ _of the Angel Army would knock on your doors and ask about me, please feign innocence and deny our relations. I'm actually doing you a huge favor by warning you so PLEASE HEED THE WARNING._

 _*Same goes for Angel Court Musician, Roderich Edelstein._

 _Now that we have gotten those away, do make these next preparations: sit back, straighten your postures, have a snack and drink close to you, and make sure to have good lighting._

 _Once you have read and understood the reminders and done the preparations, you may now proceed on reading the prologue._

 _Awesome,_

 _Gilbert Beilschmidt_

 _Keeper of Demon Tales and Demon Court Musician_

 **WARNING: This epic saga features a dangerously powerful Danish demon who acts nothing like his title; a completely lovesick stoic Swede who's obsessed with furniture; a pair of sharp tongued Icelandic and Norwegian brothers whose comments are as hurtful as a knife to the back; an adorable fluffy Finnish man who can completely take down three bears with one pebble; a huffy English demon pirate king who fancies himself as a gentleman; a rather boisterous American hero who actually knows everything; and some others that aren't really worth mentioning.**


	2. Prologue - Where It All Started

_Prologue – Where It All Started  
_

* * *

This was all that damned English Pirate's fault.

Or at least, that's what Matthias wanted to think, seeing as the reason why everything is in chaos right now is because of the sudden momentous decision Arthur resolved himself with.

But if he were perfectly honest, he's not completely blameless either. After all, it wasn't Arthur's fault he just happened to be there on the very night (back a hundred or so years ago) Matthias made a fool out of himself – thus ultimately earning him a very powerful blackmail material that the Danish demon never wanted to be leaked to everyone.

But if we were going in that direction, then it's Gilbert who's in the complete fault. After all, the incident happened during one of the nights the albino demon managed to rope him to drinking into stupor.

But then again, who would have thought that Arthur would pull up that card for _this_?

Two years ago, if you asked the pirate demon if there was ever an off chance that _this_ could happen to him, he would have laughed completely at your face; call you a bunch of discriminating names, and hack you off with his sword for a good measure.

And what do you mean by _this_ , you may ask? Why, it's only the great Arthur Kirkland falling in love, of course!

But the great irony really had to be – from all the other creatures the insufferable man could fall for (seriously, even a puny human would have been better,) it had to be a _Hero_.

A

Mother

Fucking

American

Hero

How that happened in the first place, Matthias never bothered to ask his good friend – nor really, did he wish to learn.

He never even knew they existed! Heroes were practically myth. They were the beings demon parents scare their children with – this he knew very well because even he is a little wary of them, due to the countless horrifying tales his beloved mother told him from his childhood – how those wretched beings would use their freakishly weird powers (well, it certainly isn't black magic, like what they demons have, nor is it divine grace, like with the angels) to send them very bad demons to their ultimate demise.

Yet he was proven greatly wrong with the existence of Alfred F. Jones, apparent Hero extraordinaire hailing from some bumpkin city (Wins count ten or something…) in the US. He met the guy – sure, since after all the American had personally escorted Arthur out from Hell – and from even that small encounter he could already tell just how great the other's power is (and also proved it, when the American man managed to fracture his hand when they shook hands – the other wasn't able to hold in his excitement, he explained when he apologized, that's why he wasn't able to hold in his strength.)

"Matthias Kohler, do you plead guilty for the crime of killing your fellow demon kin, Arthur Kirkland?" the booming voice of Alistair Kirkland, the Demon Judge, reverberated around the High Court Room – the court room angels and demons shared (contrary to popular belief, angels and demons actually get along pretty well, considering they have a lot in common and, not to mention, their realms are just beside each other. The only time really you'll see them fight is when their assigned tasks intercepts. But other than that, they're the best of friends) – making the various demons and angels who had attended the momentous occasion to cease their talking and turn their attention back to the podium.

What is currently going on, you may ask again? Why, it should be obvious by now.

In order for Arthur to safely escape their world, and hide Alfred's true nature while they're at it, he had to hatch a plan that would ensure no one would ever dare to look for him. For if ever this illicit relationship of theirs would be found out, there would be a lot of repercussions. Most especially that of Arthur's own brothers, who never allow their itty-bitty Artie to date anyone – much less a _Hero_ (despite Alfred's existence being still debatable.) And well, no one wanted to mess with the older Kirkland brothers (any Kirkland really.) _No one._

The plan he had come up with? Fake his death.

There's a minor setback to this plan though, and that's Arthur is the bloody _Pirate King_. Not just anyone can equal him in battle – much less kill him. So it'll be hard for everyone to believe if some random demon thug would claim to have killed him. Not to mention, before the poor sap could even be given his sentence, he'll already be killed by Arthur's brothers – especially since the eldest, Alistair, just happened to be the Demon Judge and the second eldest, Seamus, was the Demon Army's General.

But it's a different thing, of course, if you were the Demon King himself. Not only would it be believable, the other Kirkland brothers would also not be able to touch him due to the vast difference between their abilities.

And who just happened to be the (un)lucky guy? Obviously Matthias.

And of course, much to his luck, Arthur just happened to have a very powerful blackmail material that can be used against him.

There was no use fighting it really.

Oh how Fate loved to fuck with them, the sadistic bastard. Matthias swore if ever he met the asshole again he'll trap him within the deepest parts of hell. The same prison where he'll probably also be locked for a thousand years – more or less.

It was on these cases that it's a good thing he was the Demon King. He can get away with doing lots of shits with only minimal damage.

How Arthur could choose to leave this very privileged life for some Hero he had no idea. But oh well, it was his decision and Matthias already made the bargain. Demons, after all, no matter how untrustworthy they were, would always fulfil their bargains, much alike a genie. Now if you were cheated out on, then that's another thing.

And as much as Matthias would like to cheat on Arthur, he owed it the man – as a fellow demon and monarch – to completely hold his end of the bargain. Even if it means deceiving everyone else. Even if it means momentarily breaking the very rule he promised himself he'll always uphold:

You can cheat and betray everyone else in the world, but never your own family.

"Matthias Kohler!" Alistair called his attention, emerald eyes brimming with emotion, hoping for him to deny everything. He almost broke down then, spilling everything he and Arthur had planned up, seeing as despite everything, despite what everyone thought, Alistair – the rest of the Kirklands really – still believed him. They knew him very well after all, especially Alistair, considering the Scot was his own best friend. "Your plead?"

But as much as he would like to keep his friend's trust, he had a bargain to fulfil.

Matthias met the judge's eyes with his owned determined ones. "Guilty."

Somewhere from the crowd, a huge angered wail erupted. Matthias didn't have to turn to know it had been Peter, the youngest of the Kirklands. Instead, he closed his eyes and listened on as everyone else started talking at once.

Beside him, Seamus, who had been specially appointed to guard him (after all, he _was_ the Demon King. Not just anyone can guard him) angrily shook his shackled arms.

"Why? Why!" the General angrily cried, emerald eyes glassy with unshed tears and hard with disbelief. Ah, the Kirklands really had become his second family, ever since the death of his mother. Thank god Dylan hadn't been here, since the Grand Library, where every important angelic and demonic books were housed, couldn't be left unguarded even a single second. He was the librarian there.

Not taking everything anymore (honestly, the one who broke his resolve was Peter. He adored the kid too much,) he decided, from all the lies and unanswered questions he previously gave, to be truthful just this once.

"It had been a bargain." He admitted. Seamus' eyes widened, knowing the implications those words held.

But before anything could be said, Alistair already made his decision. Unlike Seamus, who was desperately holding in his tears, Alistair didn't even bother to hold in his or mask them. He openly cried as he glared with loathing hate at Matthias.

It was a sign, Matthias knew. Alistair was crying because not only was his most favorite brother killed, he was killed by the man he trusted the most in the world. If that wasn't enough, the said most trusted man just had to force him to give out his sentence – a sentence, though they all know is a little muted due to Matthias' stature, that's just as cruel. The judge was openly because despite all that, the love he held for the Dane hadn't wavered a bit, and he hated him the most for that.

"Your highness, Demon King Matthais Kohler, I sentence you to a thousand years isolated imprisonment in the Garden of the Lost for killing the Demon Pirate King, Arthur Kirkland. This order will commence in two weeks' time." And the gavel was struck.

Instantly, the metal shackles that held his hands lit up and shrunk down, the chain disappearing and the metal rings embedded itself into his skin and turned into black circular tattoos. It was to suppress his powers.

Nothing was said then, as Matthias was dragged by soldiers (this time the low ranked ones, his powers were already sealed and the threat was gone) out of the court room. Seamus had already left his side, gone to chase after Peter who had ran out of the building. Wise choice he may add, since Peter's powers were still uncontrollable due to his lack of experience and there's honestly no telling what he'll do now due to the unpredictability of his emotions.

The Dane couldn't help but send a silent apology to the people who had been most affected with this whole affair. And as much as he wanted to hate Arthur at this very moment, he couldn't also do that. Because just the fact that that Pirate made a _bargain_ – of all things honestly! They were demons, they _accept_ bargains – shows just how much desperate he had been. That, if things had been different, he would have never done this.

In the end this was for his brothers' sake too. Because if Arthur hadn't done this – hadn't made them think he was dead – they would have turned restless and would have attempted to do everything to bring their brother back.

And that wouldn't be good. According to Arthur, Alfred may all be sunshine's and rainbows but like everyone, the Hero has a different side. A side much, much more dark than any demon could ever wish to have. And the Hero loved Arthur too much to the point of not hesitating on eliminating every obstacle that'll come their way. It was this that made Arthur fear for his brothers.

After all, every rumor has a grain of truth. And maybe those scary bedtime stories hadn't been a lie at all.

* * *

 **A/N: Honestly I planned for this prologue to only be over less than 500 words but as it is, it turned up to becoming a 1,873 (excluding this author's note) word monster. To be honest, when I reached 1,000 words, I had already planned on making this the first chapter, but that was until I remembered that on the introduction, Gilbert had already stated that the next chapter would be the prologue so I just decided to fuck it all and continue with what I had originally planned.**

 **Enjoy this folks! (also the fact that I was able to update faster haha!)**


	3. Chapter One - How It Happened

_Chapter One – How it Happened_

* * *

To be clear: this was all Lukas' fault.

If ever the other party would say otherwise and instead blame Tino, don't give it any mind. As far as Berwald was concerned, the little Finnish fluff ball of Christmas and hard rock metal had, for once, nothing to do with everything – more likely Lukas was only redirecting his anger because the small cold Norwegian devil isn't used to screwing up and getting blamed for it.

Which was what he did. And very, very badly at that too.

"Jesus Christ Lukas, if you do not shut up and stop blaming Tino for something he clearly did _not_ do, I _won't_ spend my vacations with you again." Emil growled, his scowl becoming more prominent under the flickering shadows the torch fire lined up the walls produced.

See? Even Lukas' own beloved darling younger brother agrees so.

At the threat of the younger one, Lukas immediately silenced. Ultimately, Emil, Tino and Berwald simultaneously released relieved breaths. Not that you can blame them really. Lukas has been blaming Tino nonstop since they had gotten lost into these wretched Parisian catacombs which was, according to Berwald's wristwatch, over thirty minutes ago.

And why were they inside getting lost in the French catacombs you ask?

Like what was earlier stated, because of Lukas. The Norwegian man was a History major and for his coming graduate class, he decided to make his thesis all about catacombs. And as it was his turn to arrange their summer vacation for that year, for the past month or so, Berwald and company had already been inside most of the catacombs outside Europe (Lukas decided to make Europe the last stop, seeing as then it'll be much easier for them to return back to their respective Nordic countries). France was their second to the last country (Italy being last) and the country's Parisian catacombs was the one they spent the most in, considering it was also the most popular. Most of the last two days the group had spent it down the musky and dingy chambers, staring aimlessly at stacks of bones as Lukas busied himself with asking passing English speaking tour guides lots of things [as after their first tour, for the succeeding ones they all abandoned their tours to be able to move freely and at the same time, save money since they didn't have to go back and buy tickets at the end (don't try this at home kids!)] and generally observing every single detail.

But that doesn't really answer the question now, does it?

Since we're already on that topic, might as well answer another question; that being why Lukas blamed Tino for their current predicament when, as again stated earlier, it was all his fault.

You see, through all their wandering around, they stumbled upon an intersection. This stumped them for a bit because they clearly didn't remember another room here, considering here was the part where Lukas based his research upon since it was the farthest they can go without being interrupted by tourists yet still within the jurisdiction of the tour (actually, a tour guide checks up on them from time to time). Anymore farther and they were at risk of being lost or buried under. Or both.

Tino – the precious, precious little Christmas cinnamon bun – suggested they try the newly found path, stating Lukas might get more research material from there.

"Besides, it was still technically within jurisdiction!" The Finnish man reasoned out.

Naturally, Lukas was a go while both he and Emil only shrugged, having no care whatsoever since for them it'll be the same – more dusty crumbly walls of bones. It was nothing new.

Or so they thought.

When they were about to enter, a tour guide stopped them. Extremely pale and shaking a little, the tour guide strongly forbid them from entering the second chamber. The warning was enough to squish what excitement the Finnish man felt at the discovery.

But it wasn't for Lukas, who wouldn't let anything get in the way of his would be perfect score.

As soon as the tour guide left them, the Norwegian strode into the second chamber with all determination. The rest of them had no choice but to follow the other, who refused to listen to their calls and warnings.

And that was what brought them now, completely and utterly lost in the maze of intersections that the chamber was apparently made up of.

"Don't you guys find it weird? That instead of musky, the air here is fresh?" Tino commented with careful observance. Berwald turned to him and pondered it over.

It was indeed weird, he noted, that despite them being a hundred or so feet underground the air was breezy and crisp, alike the ones you feel on a forest.

But then again this only means one thing.

"We're near an exit." He stated in relief. At that statement, it seemed like all energy they had lost for the past hour returned and they vigorously trudged along the dusty floor. When faced with another intersection, all of them chose the path where the air was blowing stronger.

Two more intersections, one very long walk, and a very tedious hike, they were finally (finally!) out of the dingy catacombs and into a forest, greedily basking around the sun and rolling on the grass (well, Tino was.)

"Sweet, sweet, _sweet_ fucking freedom." Lukas murmured, closing his eyes and enjoying the wonderful sting of the harsh rays of the sun on his skin. Berwald was also doing the same (sans closing his eyes) and breathed a sigh of relief.

"As the person responsible for next year's vacation, I swear we aren't going to a country that has a catacomb." He swore.

Emil regarded him wirily, very comfortable in his place sitting on a huge tree trunk's root and away from the harsh rays of the sun. "We'll definitely have to get out of Europe for that. This whole continent's too old to not have catacombs."

"Fiji's fine with me." Tino commented, smiling at them and equally comfortable as he lay on the grassy field, under the direct rays of the sun. "Or America! I've always wanted to visit California. Or Texas. Their accents are very amusing!"

"It'll be a waste to visit any of those places," Lukas dryly commented, having enough of basking from the sun and had now moved towards where Emil was. "Considering none of us tan. And if it's a place with lots of beaches you want then we're better off in Denmark. It's closer to home and not to mention cheaper."

"Your opinions don't matter this time Lukas," Emil scowled at his brother, annoyed that he had to move from his spot just because the other insisted to sit beside him. "With seeing as how much of a disaster this vacation is turning out to be."

This earned the Icelandic a sharp glare and a rather painful slap on the arm from his older Norwegian half-brother, basing by how loud the other's shriek was.

This time, Berwald decided he had enough sun (and what Emil said about them not tanning was true enough anyway, them being Nordics and all, so it was no use lingering around under it longer and risk having sun burn) and joined the sharp tongued brothers under the shade. Tino was the only one remaining basking on the blazing sun.

Then again the Finnish man was used to being in high temperatures, seeing as how obsessed the other was about saunas.

"I was thinking more on the lines of Singapore or Thailand or Vietnam. Something exotic and somewhere in Asia." He commented, leaning his head back to rest it on the tree trunk. As he had his eyes closed upon doing that, it took him quite a few moments before he noticed that something was quite peculiar with the tree.

When he opened his eyes though, that was when he noticed that a pair of beautifully shining blue eyes were observing him. When those eyes caught his own, they crinkled into crescents and it was then Berwald fully noticed the stranger's whole visage; perfectly sculpted jaw, shaded high cheekbones, regally long nose, wonderfully plump red lips and the eyes. Oh god the eyes. Those sinful wonderful twinkling sky blue windows of the soul pierced Berwald's very core, dragging his very being out of his body and wrapping it to the other's (another) perfectly sculpted fingers.

 _HOLY_

 _MOTHER_

 _OF_

 _IKEA_

Goodbye Berwald. These past 25 years of your life will never be forgotten. Don't worry, I'm very sure you'll enjoy your new life as this perfect being's slave.

* * *

 **A/N: Here's chapter one folks! Just for clarification purposes though, this entire story would revolve around SuDen. To be perfectly honest I only added USUK here as a plot device thus the reason why I mentioned on the summary that there are still other pairings that I'm not entirely sure I'll be putting in. Although with the way things are going right now, I don't think I'll be adding other parings.**

 **Buuuut we'll never know, haha!  
**


	4. Chapter Two - The Man on the Tree

_Chapter Two – The Man on the Tree_

* * *

Of all the things Berwald expected to come across with during this disastrous of a trip, it certainly wasn't a very handsome man looking down on him from atop a tree, giving him a very beautiful smile like he was the best thing the stranger had seen for over a century (which wasn't much of a stretch really, he'll find out soon.)

" _Hi,"_ those wonderfully red lips mouthed, giving him a heart thundering grin.

He couldn't help tugging his mouth slightly in reply. Such a fucking damn shame that was the only thing he could do, as he found he could never mold his mouth to shape into a, what other people would call, proper smile.

" _Name?"_ those – unpfh! – lips mouthed again.

Berwald had to clear his throat to partially purify his thoughts. "I'm Berwald Oxenstierna. You?"

The grin turned into a delighted smile that punched straight to his guts, the stranger finishing him off when those eyes crinkled into crescents in that way that he was slowly finding out he was very much fond of.

" _Matthias Kohler! Nice to meet you Berwald."_ The way those lips mouthed his name. No. No. No.

 _Aaaaaand the stoic scary Swedish man is down!_

 _He was no match for that sinfully very much adorably delicious smile._

His thoughts were no longer making any fucking sense.

"Likewise," he couldn't help but clear his throat again. The stranger's – _Matthias'_ – whole body started shaking in that telltale signs of chuckles. Berwald felt himself moving a little closer to a deep, deep drop off.

This was not good – oh! _This was so good…_

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Lukas interrupted his thoughts, staring at him incredulously. _Have you finally lost your mind?_ the unspoken question.

Berwald blinked at him. No, he hadn't lost his mind, thank you very much. Though honestly he wished he could say the same thing about his heart…

Instead, he replied, "Matthias."

The Norwegian man's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. But before he could further inquire, he was interrupted by the loud shriek Tino let out.

"Wh-who is that!?" the Finnish man exclaimed, pointing a shaking finger at something up on the tree. Berwald, naturally, already knew what – or who – they were pointing at.

But the sharp tongued brothers didn't.

Emil was the first to react. Jumping off from his perch on the tree trunk, he ran towards Tino for protection, hiding on the fluffy Finnish man's back and peeking those scared lavender eyes towards Matthias.

Lukas for his part remained calm, head thrown back as unfathomable dark purple eyes peered up at where Matthias was. It took the Norwegian man a few moments to take in the sight of the perfect being situated atop the tree.

"I take it you're Matthias?" Lukas commented. The man up on the tree blinked at him before nodding uncertainly.

Lukas only stared unblinking at him. "Good to know our friend here hasn't really lost his mind, although it's a damn shame." The comment made the man on the tree relax and even earned him another soundless chuckle that almost made Berwald strangle the man sitting beside him because _damn it, he was supposed to be the only one to make Matthias chuckle like that. Or see him adorably chuckle like that._

Berwald, calm your nonexistent organic milk bags.

"So tell me," Lukas continued, eyes not leaving Matthias' figure, making the Swede's blood boil even further – a shame it's not visible on his face. Then maybe Lukas would get the idea to stop flirting (because the apathetic man was definitely flirting, what with him talking to a complete stranger with more than four words and even _joking)_ with Berwald's stranger. "How did someone like you got imprisoned on a huge grotesque cage up on a tree?"

 _Wait what?_

Berwald did a double take and this time, made sure to observe the object of his crazy little crush and look past that gloriously handsome face and perfect body. Sure enough, the man was suspended high on the tree with the help of a huge black iron cage. If that wasn't alarming enough, all corners of the cage just had to have statues of little disturbing looking demons attached to it, the horns atop their heads extending long enough to connect with each other's and made it seem like the horns itself are the cage. Their tails too, extended into chains that were currently attached to each of Matthias' wrist and ankles.

The details of the cage had been skillfully crafted it seemed almost life like, making Berwald, who was a huge appreciator of all crafted things (most especially furniture) wonder who made it and if it'll be possible to request a commission.

It seemed like Matthias also observed his cage, returning his attention to the Norwegian after a moment to answer his question. But before he could do so, he was silence when Emil approached the tree once again and sharply jabbed his elbow on Lukas' side, making the other man slightly double over in pain.

"Lukas! How can you be making polite conversation at this moment?" the Icelandic hissed, staring at Matthias' form suspiciously. The man on the cage returned the stare by widening his big baby blue eyes, and pressing those plump lips into a pout (that sent a punch directly to Berwald's groin.)

Thankfully the Swede (and the rest of his companions) were distracted when it seemed like Emil wasn't the only one who thought that, seeing as Tino already had a twig up in defense as he neared where they currently were.

Berwald couldn't help but be alarmed at that.

Sure, the twig by itself was harmless and wouldn't really do much damage, but this was _Tino_ we're talking about. The same man who managed to tackle a ferocious polar bear back in Norway when they were hiking using nothing but a teaspoon as a weapon – The same man who, when they were hiking along the African jungle looking for a catacomb, managed to take down a large yellow boa snake using only his silver bracelet.

The same man who, using an old rusted rifle with only two bullets left, managed to injure over five Mexican drug cartel goons armed with various knives and pistols and frightened away the rest of the said Mexicans' group when they managed to accidentally stumble upon a drug deal early on their trip when they visited Mexico and its catacombs.

The simple twig just became the most dangerous weapon on the hands of the hardcore Finnish man.

"Don't do anything rash Tino." Lukas warned, narrowing his eyes against their friend, pushing Emil behind him and away from what was about to become a battle field. It looked like the historian became just as alarmed as he was with the Finn's stance.

Usually a very cheerful and smiley man, the Finn now held a hard expression as he narrowed his eyes at Matthias' form.

"State your name, age, nationality, and occupation and I _might_ consider killing you." Tino stated, grip on his twig tightening. Berwald hurriedly whipped his gaze back to the stranger, silently pleading with his eyes (and mind) for the other to follow the Finn's demands, knowing well how the other usually follows through with his compromises.

Much to his surprise though, instead of quaking in fear, as what the people who had been under that specific glare and tone of voice of Tino's usually do, Matthias actually looked somewhat amused at the threat, blue eyes shining in mirth.

The look ultimately blew the Swede's mind, his senses immediately flying up in heaven.

Oh curse this weird attraction of his!

" _Alright,"_ Matthias mouthed, lips quirking up in a grin. _"Name's Matthias Kohler. Age… well, all you need to know is that I'm definitely older than any of you. Nationality? Proud Danish! Now occupation…"_ at this the handsome man paused for a moment, expression crossed as if contemplating whether to divulge this particular information.

That was a wrong move.

At the hesitation, Tino's eyes narrowed even further and he hadn't hesitated in throwing the twig straight at Matthias.

"Tino!" Lukas exclaimed, anger underlining his voice. Both he and Berwald (and by extension Emil, who was still safely huddled behind the Norwegian) watched in growing horror as the twig sailed through the air and flew straight to Matthias' face.

 _IKEAgodsnonononononono!_ the Swede couldn't help but chant in his mind as he fought the urge to close his eyes, praying to all Gods above to stop this horrific scene. His precious stranger was done for!

The newly known Danish widened his eyes at the coming weapon, chained arms rising to his face in reflex to deflect the twig. Before anything could happen though, when the thin strip of wood neared the cage, a minor ripple broke through the air and within moments, the twig disintegrated.

The four people staying at the foot of the tree widened their eyes at what happened.

The prisoned man, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief when, after moments of not being hit, hesitantly uncrossed his arms and saw the twig disappear in thin air.

If possible, this made the Finnish man even more alarmed, pulling all three of his friends (and gave Berwald a rather scathing glare when he tried to struggle) behind him in protection.

"What really are you?" the small man hissed, openly glaring in hostility at the man caged on the tree.

Matthias stared at them, bright blue eyes dulling as a sad smile curved his lips.

Despite everything that has just happened, Berwald couldn't help inwardly cursing himself when the sight pushed a stake on his heart, the traitorous piece of muscle beating in agony with regards to the Dane's sadness.

Damn all IKEA! Despite the fact that he had just seen how alarmingly dangerous the stranger might be, it still didn't stop his heart from beating for the other.

 _Could it be possible that the prisoned stranger placed him under a spell?_

" _Well,"_ Matthias started, blue eyes getting duller and duller until they looked almost grey, _"Guess I've got no choice but to explain myself right?"_ When none of them answered, he released a heavy sigh. _"You see it's a long story. But to make it simple…"_ He paused, eyes glazing over somewhere as if he was replaying a certain memory over and over again.

Tension rising higher and higher the longer he dragged out the revelation, Tino made an impatient sound at the back of his throat, urging the chained man to continue his revelation. Jerking away from the trance he was in, the Dane returned his attention back to them and continued without preamble,

" _I'm the Demon King."_

* * *

 **A/N: Aaaaand that's a wrap!**

 **No, not really. We still have a long way to go folks! We have yet to meet and find out what happened to Arthur and Alfred, there are still a lot of things that's supposed to happen and, not to mention, the two dorks disguised as our main characters have yet to start humping like rabbits! (A little reminder that I'm keeping this fic kinda PG so no smut guys, unfortunately.)**

 **But in any event, I'm sorry for the late update.**

 **I'm not really sure when I'll put up chapter three but it'll probably be after I update To Womanhood and Family Shenanigans (since this fic was written as an excuse for me to write another SuDen fic** _ **and**_ **to procrastinate on those two after mentioned fics of mine.)**

 **Well, see you when I see you, I guess? Or the next update.**


End file.
